Legendary Russian Pianists

Advantages: beautifuly performed film
Disadvantages: none

...This is an absolutley fantastic film that will appeal to both men and women as it has the adventure side to it aswell as the heart puller too. This film is based on a real person not just fiction, it is based on wladyslaw szpilman a jew and concert pianist played in the dvd by Adrien Brody who does this job very well, This is his story of how he lived through the nazi invation of warsaw and how he managed to survive against all the odds, he evaded being captured and imprisoned in a concentration camp and managed to survive world war two by hiding amongst the ruins in war torn warsaw. The detail in this film is fantastic, there is a lot of violence but this isnt exagerated it is as it was when it was all happening to give you a real feel of what it was like to be there and it realy does instill fear in you and get your adrenalin... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Gripping film
Disadvantages: Rather lengthy

...Winner of three Oscars (and nominated for four more), two BAFTAs, and the coveted Palm d'Ore, The Pianist certainly has the credentials. Anyone who has read Szpilman's original biography, also titled 'The Pianist', will already know that the narrative is gripping enough, but combined with amazing direction by Roman Polanski, and breathtaking performances by many of the actors, specifically Thomas Kretschmann and the fabulous Adrian Brody, the story is taken to an entirely new level. Certainly Polanski's finest work, The Pianist follows the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman through the horrors of the Warsaw ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The film is largely presented from the viewpoint of Szpilman himself, and this is certainly one of the film's greatest successes. While first person narratives can be tricky to perfect... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: wide variety of related courses, can learn Russian from scratch
Disadvantages: none

...I studied BA Russian and Soviet Studies at Portsmouth University from 1988 to 1990. Unfortunately, I did not complete the four year course, due to getting married and then having a baby a year later. The course was the reason I chose to go to Portsmouth, moving 210 miles from my home in Lincoln. I have been interested in the USSR and the Russian language since following the successes of the Soviet team (especially the gymnasts) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. I became fascinated with the Cyrillic alphabet and wanted to learn the language. I had an opportunity to do this with a short night school course as a teenager, which whetted my appetite to study it further. One of the advantages of the course at Portsmouth was that you could learn the language ab initio. The other parts of the course sounded fascinating too, as it included... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful